Hemel Hempstead

"Hemel Hempstead is a populous and thriving market town in the parish of
its name and hundred of Dacorum, 24 miles N.W. from London, 18 W. from Hertford and
6 W. by N. from St. Albans. By the Saxons the town was called Henamsted or
Hean Hempsted, signifying 'High Hempsted;'
subsequently it obtained the appellation of Hemelam-Steole, from which its
present denomination evidently is derived. The town, which consists principally of
one street, nearly a mile in length, is situated on the declivity of a hill, near
the small rivers Gade and Bourn - within about a mile
of the Grand Junction canal, and a mile and a half from the London and Birmingham
Railway. The leading manufacture of the place is that of paper, which indeed may be
considered its staple; the making of straw plat employs a considerable number of
females and children, and several corn mills are in the
vicinity. There are some respectable inns, both commercial and posting; among these
the 'Bell' and the 'King's Arms' are particularly well regulated establishments.
Henry VIII granted to the inhabitants a charter of incorporation, which was renewed
by Cromwell: by this charter, still in existence, the
government of the town was vested in a jury chosen from among the inhabitants, and a
bailiff elected annually. The police regulations of the place are conducted upon the
improved metropolitan system, and there is a regular office at Bury Mill End.

"The charities comprise a general infirmary, erected and partly endowed
by Sir John Sebright, Bart.; a school of industry, one upon the national system, and
another for infants.

"The country about Hemel Hempstead is hilly, picturesque and in a high
state of cultivation; and the appearance of the town, with its handsome church and
beautiful lofty spire, on the approach from St. Albans, is eminently imposing. In
the immediate vicinity the walks are of a most attractive
description.

"The market (a superior one for corn) is on Thursday; a fair is held on
the Thursday week after Whit-Sunday for cattle, and a statute fair on the third
Monday in September; and there is a large cattle show or market on Holy
Thursday.

"The entire parish, including the chapelries of Bovingdon and
Flaunden, contained, in 1831, 6,037 inhabitants."

[From Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography of
Herts, Pigot & Co., London, 1839]

"The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is the principal ornament of the
town; it is of Norman architecture, but has undergone various alterations in the
progress of time; its form is that of a cross, from the intersection of which a
tower rises. The interior consists of a nave, chancel, aisles
and transept: the entrance at the west end presents a richly ornamented recessed
arch; the mouldings are finely sculptured, the capitals all dissimilar. The tower,
surmounted by a well-proportioned spire, rests upon semicircular arches, springing
from large clustered pillars with square capitals, the
sculpture of each of which is different, In the church are some few monuments the
inspection of which will interest the visiter; it also contains and excellent
organ,built by Lincoln at a cost of four hundred guineas, and two truly beautiful
jointed windows - that at the west end presented by Sir Aston
Paston Cooper, Bart. The benefice is a vicarage, in the appointment of the dean and
chapter of St. Paul's, on the nomination of the see of Lincoln; the present
incumbent is the Rev. Jacob Henry Brook Mountain. There are places of worship for
baptists and the society of friends, besides meeting houses
in the parish and its hamlets for other religious classes."

[From Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography of Herts,
Pigot & Co., London, 1839]